Where to get Airbnb data and what each source offers
Airbnb does not publish a public database of all listings, but you can gather rental data through three main routes: Airbnb's own tools, third-party data platforms, and manual collection from the Airbnb website itself. The route you choose depends on whether you need current prices, historical trends, competitor analysis, or neighborhood occupancy patterns.
Airbnb's Host Dashboard shows your own listing performance—occupancy rates, revenue, and guest reviews—but only for properties you own or manage. If you are researching the market to decide whether to list a property, or to understand what similar rentals charge, you will need to look elsewhere. Third-party platforms like AirDNA, Mashvisor, and Primelists collect Airbnb data legally by scraping publicly visible information and reselling it as reports. Manual collection means visiting Airbnb.com, filtering by neighborhood and dates, and recording prices and availability yourself—slow but free.
Key Takeaways
- Airbnb's Host Dashboard only shows data for listings you own; market research requires third-party tools or manual collection.
- Paid platforms like AirDNA and Mashvisor provide historical pricing, occupancy forecasts, and competitor analysis for specific neighborhoods.
- Manual collection from Airbnb.com is free but time-consuming and works best for a single neighborhood or a small number of comparable properties.
- Google Sheets and spreadsheet templates can organize manually collected data so you can spot pricing patterns and seasonal trends.
- Some cities publish short-term rental registries that include Airbnb listings, offering a free source for basic property information.
Using Airbnb's built-in tools to track your own listings
If you already host on Airbnb, the Host Dashboard is your starting point. Log into your Airbnb account, click your profile icon, and select "Hosting" to reach the dashboard. From there, click "Performance" to see occupancy rate, average nightly rate, and total revenue for the current month, the past year, or a custom date range you select.
The dashboard also breaks down your performance by day of the week and shows which listing features (pool, kitchen, parking) correlate with bookings. You can export this data as a CSV file by clicking the read icon on any chart. This data is only useful if you already have a listing; it does not tell you what other hosts in your area are charging or how often their properties book.
Third-party platforms that sell Airbnb market reports
AirDNA is the largest paid platform for Airbnb data. It covers over 200,000 neighborhoods worldwide and provides average nightly rates, occupancy percentages, revenue estimates, and seasonal trends. You enter a neighborhood or address, and AirDNA shows you the median price for similar properties, how many listings exist in that area, and a forecast of occupancy for the next three months. Pricing starts around $40 per month for a single neighborhood report.
Mashvisor offers similar data—pricing, occupancy, cash-on-cash return estimates—and includes a map view so you can see where listings cluster and which blocks command higher rates. Mashvisor also estimates what a property would earn if you converted it to a short-term rental. Plans begin around $50 per month.
Primelists focuses on detailed competitor analysis. You enter a property address or neighborhood, and it shows you the top-performing listings nearby, their nightly rates, amenities, review scores, and booking frequency. This is useful if you want to understand what guests pay for specific features—a hot tub, a view, a location near transit. Primelists charges per report rather than a monthly subscription, typically $15 to $30 per neighborhood.
All three platforms update their data weekly or monthly, so the numbers reflect current market conditions. None of them are affiliated with Airbnb, but they collect only publicly visible information—listing titles, descriptions, photos, prices, and reviews—so the data is legal to use.
Manually collecting data from Airbnb.com
If you want to avoid paid tools, you can gather data yourself directly from Airbnb.com. Start by going to Airbnb, entering your target neighborhood, and setting your check-in and check-out dates. Airbnb will show you all available listings for those dates, sorted by price, rating, or newest first. Open each listing and record the nightly rate, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, amenities, host response time, and review score in a spreadsheet.
Repeat this process for different dates—weekdays versus weekends, peak season versus off-season—to spot pricing patterns. A listing that costs $120 on a Friday might cost $80 on a Tuesday. Collecting data across four to six different date ranges gives you a realistic picture of how prices fluctuate.
This method is free but labor-intensive. Gathering data for 50 listings across multiple date ranges can take 2 to 4 hours. It also captures only listings available on the dates you search; booked properties do not appear, so your sample may skew toward lower-demand dates or less popular properties.
Organizing your data in a spreadsheet
Whether you collect data manually or export it from a paid platform, a spreadsheet makes patterns visible. Create columns for listing ID (or address), nightly rate, bedrooms, bathrooms, amenities, occupancy rate (if available), review score, and the date you collected the data. Add a column for "price per bedroom" so you can compare properties fairly—a two-bedroom at $150 is cheaper per room than a one-bedroom at $100.
Once you have 20 to 30 listings in your spreadsheet, use the sort and filter functions to answer specific questions. Sort by price to find the median rate in your neighborhood. Filter by "has pool" or "has parking" to see whether those amenities command a premium. Create a pivot table to calculate average price by number of bedrooms, or average occupancy by review score.
If you are collecting data over time, add a date column and track how prices change week to week. This reveals seasonal patterns—prices might spike in summer or around holidays, then drop in winter. Tracking over three to six months gives you enough data to forecast demand and set your own rates.
Using city rental registries and public records
Many cities now require short-term rental hosts to register and publish their listings in a public database. New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Denver all maintain searchable registries that include Airbnb properties. These registries typically show the property address, the host name, the number of bedrooms, and sometimes the nightly rate or occupancy rules.
To find your city's registry, search "[your city] short-term rental registry" or "[your city] Airbnb registration." If your city has one, you can read the full list as a CSV or Excel file, which is faster than scraping Airbnb.com yourself. The data is usually updated monthly and is free to access. The downside is that registries do not always include pricing or occupancy data—they focus on compliance and enforcement rather than market analysis.
Legal and ethical considerations when collecting data
Airbnb's terms of service prohibit automated scraping of the website using bots or scripts. If you manually visit Airbnb.com and record prices yourself, you are not violating the terms. If you use a tool that automatically downloads thousands of listings without visiting the site, you are likely in violation and Airbnb may block your IP address or account.
Third-party platforms like AirDNA operate in a legal gray area. They argue that scraping publicly visible information is legal under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and courts have sometimes agreed. However, Airbnb has sued data scrapers in the past, and the law is still evolving. Using data from an established, paid platform like AirDNA or Mashvisor is safer than building your own scraper, because those companies have legal teams and insurance.
City registries and public records are always legal to use—they are published by government agencies specifically for public access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I read all Airbnb listings for my city at once?
No. Airbnb does not publish a bulk export, and scraping the entire site violates their terms. Paid platforms like AirDNA can show you all listings in a neighborhood, but you must search by location, not read everything. City registries sometimes allow bulk read, but they do not include pricing or occupancy data.
How often does Airbnb pricing data change?
Hosts can change their nightly rate and availability calendar at any time, so prices can shift daily. Paid platforms update their data weekly or monthly. If you are tracking a specific competitor, check their listing every few days to catch price changes. Manual collection gives you a snapshot for a specific date range, not real-time data.
What is the difference between occupancy rate and booking rate?
Occupancy rate is the percentage of nights a listing is booked. A property with 70% occupancy is booked 21 out of 30 nights. Booking rate usually refers to the percentage of inquiries that turn into reservations. Paid platforms report occupancy; you cannot see booking rate from public Airbnb data.
Do I need to pay for data if I am just researching my neighborhood?
No. Manual collection from Airbnb.com is free and works well for understanding a single neighborhood or comparing 10 to 20 properties. Paid platforms are worth the cost if you need historical trends, forecasts, or data for multiple neighborhoods, or if you are making a large financial decision based on the data.
Can I use Airbnb data to predict future prices?
Paid platforms like AirDNA include occupancy forecasts based on historical patterns, but they cannot predict unexpected events—a recession, a pandemic, a new hotel opening nearby. Use data to understand current market conditions and seasonal trends, not as a may provide of future performance.